Bensalem Teen Murderer Will Remain Jailed For 3 More Years: DA

A Lower Southampton man twice convicted and sentenced to life for his involvement in a murder more than 35 years ago in Bensalem was resentenced Friday to serve 40 years to life in state prison, authorities with the Bucks County District Attorney's office said Tuesday.

Dennis Flanagan, who was 17 at the time of the 1981 murder, has been in prison since shortly after the beating, stabbing and strangulation death of 26-year-old James Redman.

Redman was killed at a deserted industrial park on July 1, 1981.

Flanagan, now 54, is the fourth of six inmates from Bucks County serving mandatory life sentences for murders committed as juveniles to be resentenced over the past year by Common Pleas Court Judge Rea B. Boylan.

Similar proceedings are being held throughout Pennsylvania as a result of recent federal and state appellate court decisions that declared mandatory life sentences for juveniles to be unconstitutional, the District Attorney's office said. New hearings are required to reconsider those sentences.

Flanagan has already has served 37 years. The new sentence will keep him imprisoned for at least three more years before he is eligible for parole consideration, the District Attorney's office said.

Image via Bucks DA